The Ume-Sámi Resource Centre is situated in the village of Hemnesberget, with a beautiful view over the fjord. Here you can meet the Sámi artist Jørn Magnus Rivojen, who is passionate about preserving the local Sámi heritage.
By appointment, visitors can come and learn about Sámi culture, heritage, history, language and life. In the large lavvo in the park you can enjoy storytelling and learn to recognise Sámi tracks in the local landscape, as well as Sámi expressions that have become part of the local Norwegian dialect. A key part of the experience is tasting homemade local and Sámi specialties, and savouring coffee brewed over the campfire.
Ume Sámi, one of several languages of the indigenous Arctic people, was once spoken in a region that stretched from the Norwegian coast to the Gulf of Bothnia, a northern arm of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. It has a long and proud history. Today, unfortunately, the language is almost extinct and spoken fluently by only a handful of people.
Jørn is a renowned Sámi multimedia artist who creates varied works, from traditional crafts, modern artworks rooted in Sámi ornamentation, and art installations. According to Jørn, duodji, the renowned Sámi handicrafts traditionally made of reindeer bone, antlers and other natural materials, is an even older part of Sámi culture than reindeer herding as a way of life.
Artworks by Jørn Magnus Rivojen have been given by the Sámi Parliament to the Norwegian Royal Family. His work is also exhibited and sold at Espaces des Mondes Polaires, a museum in the French Alps.
For more information about his artwork and the Ume-Sámi Resource Center, please visit the Facebook page for “Rivojen Art and Craft”.
